Marcus – Parent Testimony

Erika & Ted: Shortly before Thanksgiving 2009, Marcus was complaining of severe headaches that never let up. Ultimately, we ended up at the emergency room, had a cat scan, and it showed a mass in the skull. He was transported to several Hospitals, ending with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, where they performed surgery to remove the mass and send it to a lab.

December 8th, he was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma. We did not have a place to live nearby, and were living in West Palm Beach with my parents. Somehow we had to relocate to be close to the Hospital. His treatment consists of 6 rounds of chemo, radiation and surgery and a Bone Marrow Transplant. He just had his stem cells harvested hoping to save his life.

We are so unbelievably grateful to have been accepted for the JJCCF financial assistance program, for without it, we would not have a place to live, food to eat, or gas to get to appointments. Sometimes 3-5 days a week! Jessica June Children’s Cancer Foundation has given us hope and smiles in a nasty, dire, situation- it would have been impossible for us to make it this far without Sandra and her staff. If we hadn’t received that call on March 11, 2010, we would have been evicted from our home. There are no words to describe how fantastic this Foundation is, and how it has helped so many scared, hungry, less fortunate people, no one asks for cancer- I wouldn’t want to imagine where we’d be if not for JJCCF, its volunteers, and of course those who donated to keep our heads up! Thank you!